Synopsis: “Akane is a high school teacher who hears a rumor from her students that there is actual footage on the Internet of someone’s suicide. The footage is said to drive anyone who sees it to also commit suicide. Akane does not believe the rumor at first, but when one of her female students dies after viewing the footage, she and her boyfriend Takanori are fatefully drawn into the horror that has been created by the man who appears in the suicide footage, Kashiwada.Kashiwada’s intention is to create chaos in the world by bringing back Sadako and the power of her curse. Now Akane has to fight against Sadako and Kashiwada to save the lives of herself and Takanori” (Walt Disney Pictures).

Verdict: In overall, it is more unintentionally hilarious than effectively terrifying. Not sure if “S” (the original novel that the film was based on) is crap or this adaptation sucks. As expected, it is no where as creepy as Ringu (1998). Sadako 3D has a very flawed plot, many things left unexplained with a confusing closure, plenty of scenes that don’t make any sense, insufficient scares, poor build-up to the story, a horrible choice of music that tones down the vibe completely (like its trailer), and the acting performance is so Japanese TV series-standard that I actually thought that the protagonist Akane (Satomi Ishihara) and her boyfriend Takanori (Koji Seto) are siblings. However, the climax at the end is considerably entertaining despite being more sci-fi action movie-like than horror.

Second opinion: “The comic I read was similar but more funny than this” (Iris Loong).

To watch in 3D? The 3-D effects are more significant compared to most of the other 3D films I’ve seen this year so if you were gonna watch this, you might as well watch it in 3D otherwise it’s just gonna be a crappy movie time for you.

Malaysian censorship: There is nothing to cut. After all, it’s distributed by Walt Disney Pictures.

Rating: 1 / 5

[SPOILER SECTION BEGINS HERE]

Plotholes – part 1: In the story, there’s a rumour that says that there’s a cursed live-suicide recording online that causes the death of those who watched it. However, since everyone died while watching it, who’s the one spreading the rumour and sharing the link to the supposedly removed video? Heck, who was even alive to remove the damned video? What’s even more dumb is that the characters are so convinced and freaked out about it and yet they’re so eager to watch it. And when they finally get to see what they already expect, they scream and cry in fear.

Plotholes – part 2: When the link to the cursed video is clicked, it shows a 404 error because its supposedly removed. The video would play by itself when it wants to (only when it’s dark for no real reason) and the Sadako ghost would come out of the screen to kill the one who watched the video. The ghost would also take the trouble to make it seem like a suicide. These dumb people are eager to be killed so why wait instead of just showing up when the link is clicked? Heck, why even need the video in the first place since Sadako can appear on any electronic screen it wants to? There’s also no explanation as to how Kashiwada (Yusuke Yamamoto) knows the ways to resurrect Sadako. Somehow, Sadako could travel to his apartment to kill him during the making of the cursed video. No explanation to that nor to what happened to his body. Ultimately, what the fuck is the video for if she could go around killing without it?

Other stupid scenes: A white butterfly is so strong that it can make a loud bang when it hits the window. Akane has the ability to scream so loud that it does not only break windows and screens, it also produces more pieces of glasses than there actually are to break (to showcase the 3D effects). When Takanori’s friend Enoki and the partner of the detective die, Akane and the detective just go on in their journey as though nothing serious happened, unlike in real life, there would’ve been a lot of police procedures. There are some crawling deformed Sadako creatures that appears in the climax of the film. Most of them chase Akane but for unknown reasons, only one is smart enough to use its extendable hair to catch her. Akane can kill them easily with almost any object she finds on the ground but she never keeps any of those things with her when she’s running from them. So she keeps using whatever she finds and somehow there’s always something there for her to use. At the end, Sadako’s hand comes out of an iPhone to grab Akane into the screen where it’s a place that seems like another dimension. But after their confrontation, the ceiling of where the iPhone is collapses and Akane falls along with it, making it seem like the other dimension is just one floor above where she was. What the fuck?

one thing that makes horror movie these days so not scary is the advancement of technology in filming. Too many relies on graphics and visual effects rather than to film it with convincing props and stuff.

@Tony Tedalso@anyone that will check this reviewRasen is the most faithful adaptation(from the book) in the whole series (yeah, more than even the 1st film)BOOK SPOILERS:Actually, the resurrection of Takanori is a major plot point in the books.in the 3rd book it is revealed that the first two had taken place in a digital world simulation ("The Matrix Trilogy" and "The 13th Floor" ripped huge concepts from it – moving in and out using the phone anyone?).This could explain the landlady's comment.So, we could put the 'S' novel somewhere after the 2nd one (where Sadako is unleashed to the world by Takanori's father in exchange to Takanori's revival), and before the 3rd one, where the whole simulated world has reached its end due to overpopulation of Sadakos(cancer. exactly like Mr.Smith's case in Matrix).sorry for the big comment, but I felt I had to post.END SPOILERSoverall the movie was full of plotholes as mentioned above, and felt like a released-straight-to-TV 80s B-movie.also,what about the butterflies?who was the landlady?what happened to the painter?was Akane a mutant? a telekinetic like "Powder"? a 'shouter' like the Asians in the "Push" movie? an up and rising opera singer?